During surgery, surgical recovery and in other critical medical situations in which the respiratory capability of a patient is diminished, breathing-assist through a tube inserted into the trachea is often desirable. According to present medical practice, the lower end of an endotracheal tube is inserted through the throat and into the trachea by an anesthesiologist employing a laryngoscope or by medical personnel trained specifically in intubation methodology. The endotracheal tube is specifically designed for insertion into the trachea or windpipe and must be flexible for the purpose of easy manipulation and tapered at one end to facilitate insertion between the vocal cords. Even though the endotracheal tube is specially designed for easy manipulation through the throat into the trachea, such insertion of the tube into the trachea normally requires the services of a skilled anesthesiologist, since without direct visualization of the vocal cords, the tube tends to enter the esophagus because of the posterior anatomical location of the entry to the esophagus relative to the entry to the trachea and the curvature of the wall of the oropharynx.
Emergency situations frequently arise in which the insertion of an endotracheal tube is vital and life saving. In such situations it would be advantageous for an unskilled physician, nurse, or paramedic to be able to insert the endotracheal tube into the patient's trachea for breathing-assist.
Accordingly, it is an object of my present invention to provide a safe endotracheal intubation device which can be operatively inserted by a relatively unskilled technician, nurse, or physician.
It is also an object of my present invention to provide an endotracheal tube, the lower tip of which may be displaced for easy manipulation and installation into the trachea by an external magnetic device exerting an attractive force upon the tip of an endotracheal tube in which a magnetic substance is incorporated.
A prime object of my present invention is to provide a flexible magnetically responsive endotracheal intubation tube tip.
It is a further object of my invention to provide a method for intubation of an endotracheal tube.